A St. Pauls woman is facing charges after she allegedly tried to fill her dead patient's prescription painkiller.

Maria Dawn Locklear, who works as a hospice registered nursing assistant in Pembroke, tried to fill her patient's prescription for 60 Oxycontin tablets at a local pharmacy, four days after the woman died, according to authorities.

They said the patient was suffering from colon cancer and died on Nov. 11.

On Sunday, authorities in Cumberland County arrested 34-year-old Locklear after she returned to the pharmacy to pick up the filled prescription.

Locklear is charged with attempting to obtain a controlled substance by fraud/forgery/subterfuge and attempting to traffic opium by possession.

She was released from the Cumberland County Detention Center under a $5,000 secured bond.